Protecting pad or armor.



D. LEVINSON.

PROTECTING PAD 0R ARMOR. APPLIEATION FILED MAR. 6. 1911.

F Patented J an. 15, 1918.

2 shins-5mm 1.

u. LEVINSON. PROTECTING PAD 0R ARMOR.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 6. I917- 1,%53,260 I Patented Jan. 15, 1918.

2 SHEIITS SHEET 2- DAVID LEVINSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PROTECTING PAD 0R ARMOR.'

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. ra ses.

Application filed March 6, 1917. Serial a... 152,674.

To all whom'z't may concern:

I Be it' known that 1, DAVID LnvmsoN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and .State of Illinois, have invented a certain new'and useful Improvement in Protecting Padsor Armor, of which the following is a full,

clear, concise," and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification. My. invention relates to protecting pads or armor for use in various branches of athletics.

In man athletic activities or sports such as footba l, baseball, cricket, basket ball,

hockey, lacrosse, fencing and the like, some type ofprotecting pad or armor is used to prevent injury by impact to various parts of the body of the participant.

lVIy invention aims to provide an improved form of pad orari'norfor such use.

lleretoforesuch pads have generally beenbuilt of a flatfibrous backing and a facing of solid -cede or rods of small diameter secured in (luck facing, a

The rods or reeds have necessarily been made of small diameter because of their weight and being thus of small diameter they have presented little strength. They tend moreover because of their small diameter, to keep the blow concentrated and to stay. Another desirable result isthe'relative lowering of the cost of construction and longer life due to" dispensing with the facing material. y

But my invention goes further and teaches the employment of hollow 'concavo-convex stays which have their convex sides facing outwardly to receive the blow and their concave sides resting upon the pa'dt'o distribute the force of :the blow; In practice 1 form the stays of semi-cylindricalhollow bars offiber' or thelike, "such as are producedwhen'a roundtublllar sleeve offiber is split lengthwise axially.

pockets or cells in a canvas 01' These semi-cylindrical bars are attached directly to the fibrous pad or backing as by means of rivets or the like through the forwardly projecting part of the bar, the rivets drawing the pad into the hollow portion of the bar.

A number of important results flow from this construction. The construction is inherently lighter and stronger than prior dcvices. As the rivets pass through the concave portion of the stays the direct attachment of the backing is not detrimental since no blow, even if it struck a rivet squarely, could cause the rivet to transmit the blow to the body of the wearer- The greater stiffness and greater area of the half round stays distribute the blow over a greater area and consequently decreases the intensityof it. The hollow nature of the stays prevents direct trai'ismission of the blow us the natural springiness of the section permits yielding and consequent dnni-' pensed with. Also due to drawing the backing into the hollow side of the stays, a rough corrugation of the backing is produced which does not shut off the air from the part of the body protected and this results in more comfortable wear to the user.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of the present specification I,

have illustrated the manner in which my invention may be put into practice.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a shin guard with the guard section attached;

Fig. 2 is a cross section of the same taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken across the lower portion of the guard on the line 3-3 of ii Fig. 4 is a front elevation of a ventilated shin guard; and I Fig. 5 is a front elevation .of a shoulder harness-for football players.

The shin guard shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 comprises a plurality of half round hollow stays l which have their round convex faces presentedjoutwardly and their rear hollow faces resting upon a backing of felt 2. The

'felt backing is secured to the stays 1 by means of the rivets 3 which pass through the stays adjacent their ends and which draw thebacking into the concave or grooved portion gfthe stays a'sjs shown in Fig. 2.

; the len th of the stays if desire less than semi-cylin rical and still retain the resilient effect which characterizes them. It is to be noted that the curvature of the stays is in all cases sharper than the curvature of the body surface upon which they are placed.

The upper ends of the stays 1 are covered over by a flexible canvas facing 5 which in this case is joined along its edges as is shown at 6 to the felt backing which extend upward and be end the ends of the stay 1. The canvas acing 5 in this case lS']01I1ed to a knee protectin shield 7 which has a felt backing 8 whic forms an extension of the main pad 2. The canvas facing 5 is joined to the felt backing underlying the same by a line of stitches such as shown at, 9 and 10, these stitches being referably horizontal inorder to render t llS part of the protector flexible for bending of the knee. The lower ends of the stays l-are also bound by a suitable facing of canvas 11 secured to t e ends of the stays by means of the rivets 4. The felt backing 2 extends down to the bottom of the protector, bein joined by a crescent shaped seam 13 at t e point where the ad passes over the instep of the wearer and at the lower edge or hem 14 which, in this case is finished with a binding of leather or other tough material. Suitable pockets are formed in the canvas facin below the stays l for receiving the cheek pieces 15 and 16 that are formed of flat plates of fiber board and the front pieces 17, 18 and 19 which protect the wearer at the point where the shin and the instep .join. The guard is supported upon the leg of the wearer by means of suitable fastening straps 20 attached at various points along the sides of the guard.

In Fig.5 I and body protecting pad forv protecting the shoulders and thorax of the wearer, as has been found desirable in football. This shoulder harness consists of two similar halves 21 and 22 joined together at front and back by means of the laces 23. A series of substantially vertical stays 24 which are formed, as previously described, of fiber tubes slit axially lengthwise riveteddirectl as by means of the rlvets 25 and 26 to a'fe t backing 27. A strip of duck or canvas'28- binds the lower ends of the stays 24 and has its lower edge sewed to the lower edge of the felt backing 27, as is shown at 29. At the upper parts of the harness a series of grooved convex sta s 30 lie in substantially a horizontal?"direction over the flexible attachin have illustrated a shoulder- )rtion of the-harness which protects the s ioulder of sewed to the edges of the feltbacking 27 A suitable eyelet receivin strip 34 is secured along the inner edge of the felt backing to provide suitable eyelets for the lacing 23. The canvas or duck facing 31 extends over the shoulder as is shown at 35 and forms a means for the shoulder pad 36, this pa bein designed to protect the apex or point of the shoulder and consisting of a fiber facin and a felt orother backin 37. Suitable e astic straps 38 serve to mamtain the shoulder pad 36 in place upon the shoulders and suitable straps 39. o

elastic material hold the front and back portions of each half closely upon the body of the wearer; The padding 27 for both front and back is preferably made of one continuous piece. It can.be seen that the stays 24 provide flexible armor for the curvature of the thorax, particularly around the chest and the stays 30 which lie substantially horizontal provide a flexibilityover the shoulders because of the difi'erentcharacter point.

In, Fig. shin ard in which the felt backing 45 is rovi ed with a series of ventilating 0 en:

of the curvature of the body at this lugs 46. The stays 47 are perforate was' j the edges of the pads'and the ends of the 4 I have illustrated a ventilated stays. .Suitable straps are provided for,"

mounting bod to e protected.

hile I have shown specific ads for protectin specific portions of the% ody, it is to be an erstood that the invention may appeal;

in a pad or armor designed to protect any particular part of the body. As an example of further forms of ad 'Iwish to oint out that the invention the pad upon the portion of the as been applied with equal success to the'constructionof kidney pads, hiplpads, thigh guards, hockey gloves 1 e. a Y

and'th'e I While I have described my invention with reference to the details of particular embodiment, it is to be understood that the form dimensions and proportions ma be 'vari as these are not of t tion. v

'Icleimy I 1. In combination, a soft fibrous backing indivi ualllynriveted directly to said backing, said stay; vingeach a groove facing said a essence o the inven-' and a lurality'of stays of small diameter backing, said grooves bein of sharper curvature'than the portion the body to be protected.

cts fastening said backing into said concave 5. In a protecting pad, a soft stays, said rivets passing through the concave portion of the stays and lying out of contact with the body of the wearer.

4. In a protecting pad, a soft fibrous backing and a plurality of grooved fiber sta s secured directl to said backing with t e grooves facing'said backing, said backing aving perforations intermediate the stays and said stays having ventilatin perforations throughout their entire len ing 'and'a plurality of grooved stays of relatively sharp portion of t e body to be protected secured rous back-- curvature with respect to the to said backing with the'grooved faces lying against the backing, binding) means coverin the ends of the stays and eing' secured to the edges of the backing, and means for fastening the backing, the stays and the binding means together. 7 6. In combination, soft fibrous backing adapted to cover a part of the body consisting of surfaces curved in different directions, a plurality of channeled sta s on sald backing lying substantially paral el in one general direction, a plurality of channeled stays lyin on said backing at substantially right angles to first said stays and binding means secured to the ends of saidstays and to said backingysaid binding means covering the ends of the stays only.

7. In a protecting pad, a,felt backing, a plurality of small stiff stays substantially semicircular in formof cross section, fastening means passing through the felt pad and through the stays, said stays having recesse's on the back side thereof, and having their curved portions facing outwardly, sai fastening means comprising rivets adapted to draw the felt hacking into the recesses in the back of said stays.

'In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 3rd day of March, A. D. 1917.

DAVID LEVINSON. 

